New York, Jan. 16 (AFP): Few people can say whether Osama bin Laden is dead or alive, but his image lives on in a new American-made doll that declares: “I suck! Would you stop bombing me'”

The company that makes the 12-inch-tall doll also makes a talking George W. Bush figure and one of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in a sado-masochistic outfit.

The toys are made by a small firm in Connecticut, Herobuilders. Press a button on the bin Laden doll, which costs $36, and the figure says: “I suck! Would you stop bombing me' You’re killing me. I suck!

“My turban is too tight, I made a big mistake, all jihad go home. I was just kidding. I suck. Oohoohoohoohoo!”

Paltrow hit

n London (Reuters): Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow was nominated for one of Britain’s top theatre awards on Thursday for her acclaimed role in the hit play Proof. The Oscar-winning actress was shortlisted for best actress at the Laurence Olivier awards, to be presented in London next month. She played a young woman in Proof who gave up much of her life to care for her genius father. In the awards race, she could face stiff competition from home-grown star Emily Watson, praised for her performance in Uncle Vanya.

Sex change

Kuwait (Reuters): A Kuwaiti has asked a court to change his legal gender to female after he had a sex change operation, in the first case of its kind in this Kuwait. The Qabas daily said the unnamed 29-year-old transsexual, who appeared in court wearing make-up, submitted medical papers stating that he had undergone an operation in Bangkok. “He approached the judge and demanded him to (accept) his new sex,” it added. The newspaper said the court has yet to rule on the case, but quoted a lawyer as saying the request would probably be accepted if all the papers were in order.

Nicole role

Los Angeles (AFP): Notorious Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss has sealed a deal to turn her life story into a movie in which Nicole Kidman could play the lead role. Fleiss, whose now infamous “black book” of clients of her high-class call girls contained the phone numbers of a quiver of stars, sold the rights of her story to Paramount Pictures which will produce the film titled Pay The Girl. “This should be like Pretty Woman, but with the visual energy and excess of Scarface,” Fleiss told the entertainment industry bible Daily Variety on Wednesday. The prospect of 35-year-old Australian beauty Kidman playing Fleiss in the movie was “a major enticement” to selling the rights to her fascinating story, Fleiss said.